Hospital administrator, school superintendent present information at chamber luncheon

Details regarding the reopening of the hospital in Stigler and the beginning of the fall semester for Stigler Public Schools were presented in last week’s Stigler-Haskell County Chamber of Commerce meeting.
“I was just reflecting on where we were a year ago,”  said Andrea Randall, acting administrator of Haskell Regional Hospital. There were a lot of uncertainties regarding the hospital, including whether Stigler would even continue to have a hospital, she said,
Last fall, while the hospital was in bankruptcy court,  the majority of the employees were laid off and all departments, with the exception of the emergency room, were closed.
The hospital, which previously operated as Haskell County Community Hospital, was purchased out of bankruptcy court several months ago. The facility is now operating as Haskell Regional Hospital, and the new owner is in the process of completing much-needed repairs and opening all departments.
Randall said she is pleased with the current status of the hospital. Construction on a new roof is underway and repairs inside the building will be completed soon.
The hospital’s emergency room is in operation and can receive patients, and some outpatient lab and radiology services are available.
Hospital employees are in the process of making other services available and setting up an electronic health record system. Employees are also working toward being able to admit patients within the next couple of months, Randall said.
Individuals may contact the hospital at 918-967-4682 with inquiries regarding specific services that are available.
David Morgan, superintendent of Stigler Public Schools, said the district’s administrators and faculty wanted to begin the school year with as much confidence as possible, “that we could return to school and play it day to day, evaluate not statewide, not even county wide, but our local situation and how it affects our kids and our community.”
The school district, which began the fall semester on Aug. 6,  had a “shaky start” as two positive cases of the coronavirus were reported, “which caused two elementary classes to quarantine. That’s a total of 46,” he said.
Approximately 80, mostly students, were quarantined the following week, “Within those, only three were positive cases. For the most part they were contacts of someone and this contact happened outside of school,” Morgan said.
Many of the students and teachers who were quarantined are beginning to return to school.
The school is offering options for students and their parents, Morgan explained.
About 140 students are enrolled the school’s virtual academy which was created this summer.
Approximately 80-100 students are participating daily in an after-school program for grade school students. The program includes assistance with school work, activities and a meal.
“I am proud of the way that our faculty and staff have reacted and it’s just going as smooth as it can,” Morgan said.

Publisher’s Note:
The chamber of commerce meeting was conducted at Kiamichi Technology Center in Stigler on Thursday, Aug. 20. The video of Stigler-Haskell County Chamber of Commerce can be viewed on this website.

By Anita Reding, staff reporter